Central Notes: Bulls, Vucevic, Haliburton, Lillard

Coach Billy Donovan believes the offseason addition of Josh Giddey and the return of Lonzo Ball provide the Bulls with the weapons to play at a much faster pace, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The biggest problem with that strategy in the early season is the team can’t hold on to the ball.

Chicago had 26 turnovers in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma City after losing the ball 21 times in the season opener at New Orleans. They did much better in their only victory, limiting turnovers to 10 while beating Milwaukee.

“We’ve got to bring them way back down,” Giddey said. “Guys’ hearts are in the right place. We’re trying to play the right way, the way we want to play. … The way we want to play, up and down, there’s going to be turnovers. But it just cannot be as many as (we’ve had).”

The biggest culprit so far has been Zach LaVine, who seems to have rediscovered his scoring touch but is struggling to protect the ball. Against OKC, he committed seven turnovers for the second time this season.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for that,” he said. “That’s two games I’ve had seven, and (against the Thunder) was just unforced. It’s not like they did anything.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

• A new emphasis on the pick-and-pop has seemed to unlock Nikola Vucevic‘s outside shot, observes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. After shooting a career-low 29.4% from three-point range last season, the Bulls center is 7-of-13 from beyond the arc through three games.
• Tyrese Haliburton admitted that he doesn’t feel like himself after the Pacers‘ loss to Philadelphia on Sunday, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. The All-Star guard is shooting 31.8% from the floor and 20% from three-point range, and he’s averaging just 3.7 assists per game after leading the NBA in that category last season. “We’re working through things,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We want to play faster with more aggression, more speed, urgency. So far, we’ve had some challenges and we have to continue to work through them.”
• Appearing on the Knuckleheads podcast (video link), Bucks guard Damian Lillard said he and Giannis Antetokounmpo need to be able to communicate openly on the court to reach a championship level. “Me and him got to be able to hold each other accountable, and that don’t mean yelling at each other all the time,” Lillard explained. “It just means, like, I got to be able to say something to you, and you got to be able to say something to me at all times.”